Sunday replay
Wow.
Thanks to Patrick Stevens of the Times for the text message score updates. (9-3 at the half?)
Ralph Friedgen was quoted in the Times as saying, "we called the wrong plays and wrong formations."
What? Who did? Why did that happen?
Stats that surprised me in checking out the box scores today:
Nine penalties for 67 yards.
UNC, which came into the game averaging just 2.9 yards per carry, outgained Maryland on the ground 110-93.
Keon Lattimore averaged 2.2 yards per carry.
Hey-Bey caught the ball five times.
The Tar Heels were held to 259 yards of total offense - an improvement by Maryland's defense, which had given up over 400 yards in four of its past six games. North Carolina made just three of 13 third-down conversions.
This was hardly the kind of performance to have one week before No. 2 Boston College rolls into town. And N.C. State beat Miami yesterday - proving yes, the same thing can happen again to Maryland in the state of North Carolina this month.
Ralph has his teleconference coming up. I'll pop on that to catch up on what I missed and fill you in later this afternoon.
Comments
maybe it's time for him to go.. every week, 'I should have done this, I should have called that. I made the wrong call. I didn't do a good job' I think no one will ever have as much passion as a coach as the Fridge does for Maryland football -- but his recruiting seems to be of issue - and if it's not recruiting, then it's coaching - and it's always one thing or another after every loss that Fridge 2nd -guesses... whatever happened to fire all your bullets and if you lose, you did your best... that has yet to happen in any loss.... terrible.
Posted by: Dwan | November 4, 2007 6:27 PM
What is this,"I made the wrong calls",etc busines? What do they do when they are watching film and practicing? Isnt that why you do those things--so you will make the right calls?
Posted by: bob | November 5, 2007 6:19 AM
I'd rather have the coaches say "Blame me" than try to put the blame on the players. Still, when coaches have to say too often "we were outcoached" they usually end up coaching someplace else pretty soon. I don't think the Terps are at that point, though I do hope Ralph hires a true OC for next year.
Looking at the people they lost from the O-line unexpectedly does cast a different light on the picture. Every year the team needs to recruit a solid crop of linemen for offense and defense, and particularly on the OL most successful programs are redshirting the first year and counting on older, more experienced players. Losing 3 or 4 players early that you had penciled in before the previous season as being solid starters for the next year can turn a team strength into a weakness.
Posted by: Jack | November 5, 2007 11:39 AM
Maryland is a second-tier D1 football program. What this means is that your starting lineup can play with the big boys, but you have little depth. So to have a successful season you have to have few major injuries and get a few lucky breaks. When that happens the Terps can win 10 games and go to respectable bowls. When the Terps beat West Virginia, Tennessee, and Purdue in bowl games we thought Fridge was a pretty good coach. Give him Donnie Woods, Jared Gaither, Jamie Thomas, Andrew Crummey, and Josh Portis all season and we'd be talking about which bowl we were going to. Not looking foward to basketball season.
Posted by: Craig | November 5, 2007 12:54 PM
I agree with Craig. Some of those younger linemen were getting tossed aside by UNC's d-line. It's hard to run the ball when you can't get any push.
Posted by: Terpin | November 5, 2007 5:26 PM